*Note: You may have seen the red donut available on ebay. It is "3D Printed". It may be tempting, but questions: will the bearing slide? Can it flex enough? Will it become brittle in the cold or after time? 3D printing machines can use many different materials but I would be concerned that it isn't a material that's been tested and proven in temperature extremes and weather. It's a rough environment where your drive shaft is operating. You don't want it to fail in the middle of nowhere. This neoprene bushing may be a better option.
Patent Pending retrofit solves the problem. Keep your original driveshaft intact. If you are thinking about taking apart your driveshaft at the center, you may have a bigger project than you think on your hands. I'm all for keeping things OEM, but this option is too simple. Anything else you are dealing with unknown and you will likely have to fix it again with greater effort and more cost. This patent pending retrofit can solve your problem with very little effort--you don't even have to remove the drive shaft. Porsche, Volkswagen, and Audi SUVs in the 2003 to 2013 or so model year time frame have a driveshaft bearing mount with a rubber support around the bearing that tends to disintegrate every 90,000 miles. Repairing this part typically requires an expensive replacement of the entire drive shaft.
I replaced mine once (indie shop with part from dealer) for about $2,200. The next time it failed I put some engineering sensibility to work. I created a part to insert around the drive shaft bearing that fits into the existing bracket. That's what's available here.
This is a pretty easy and durable fix – and best of all it's inexpensive. It is also Patent Pending.
Have a look at the photos. If you do basic work on your car you can probably solve this problem easily.
1. Remove all bolts for the drive shaft mount bracket to the crossmember and the bolts that hold the mount to its bracket.
2. Clean out the rubber remaining around the bearing and within the ring of the bearing mount which remains around the driveshaft.
*You don't have to get absolutely everything clean off the surfaces. Just get it close so that the rubber bushing provided can be pressed in between the circular bearing mount and the bearing on the driveshaft.
3. Spread the driveshaft bushing open at its separation and place it around the driveshaft.
4. Wrap a piece of the double-sided elastic tape around the bearing. This tape is thermally and structurally made to handle freezing and extremely hot temperatures. It is installed on the outer race of the driveshaft bearing simply to ensure that there is a snug fit holding the bearing in place. During driving there is almost always some sideways force on the bushing and the tape and bushing keep the bearing race in place while the inner race of the bearing spins. This keeps the outer race from spinning inside the bushing.
4. Place the driveshaft bushing around the driveshaft bearing.
5. Insert the circular bearing mount onto the Driveshaft Bushing so it is flush with the edges.
6. Install plastic zip ties into the 4 holes in the Driveshaft Bushing and strap the bushing to the circular bearing mount.
7. Loosely install the bolts for the bracket through the mounting plate to begin re-fastening the mount.
8. Install the bolts fastening the mounting plate to the cross-member of the underside of the vehicle and torque them as specified.
9. Tighten the 2 bolts holding the circular bearing mount to its bracket ensuring that there is little tension or pressure being placed forward or backward and that the circular bearing mount is centered on the bearing. (You can check this by feel.) Tighten to specified torque specs if desired.
10. Go ahead and drive!
This part has not been available for long so we don't really know how long it will last or if it will ever fail. It seems quite solid and reliable. A personal note: I have had a much more crude solution last over 10,000 miles. And when it did fail in much more crude iterations, the failure was very gradual and didn't cause any sudden breakdowns.
I know these are great cars and are worthy of getting up and running as they should be. I hope you enjoy this option and can get your great vehicle back on the road again!